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All India Congress Committee Goa in charge Dinesh Gundu Rao has called BJP’s attempt to lure two-thirds of the Congress MLAs to their fold a “flop Operation Kamala”.
“In the process, we know who our loyal men are and who the defectors are,” said Rao while adding that the BJP once again tried to pull a fast one but failed miserably.
Rao told News18 exclusively about how Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo, the two MLAs who are said to have been leading the rebellion within the Congress, have been conspiring and trying to convince other Congress MLAs to defect.
“Despite all the pressure, our young and newly elected first-time MLAs have stuck together. This conspiracy has been going on for a month now but our legislators have held own their own,” he said.
Rao alleged that the MLAs have been put under immense pressure from all quarters including the mining, coal, and industries lobby. He confirmed to News18 that the Congress has 7 MLAs while four others — Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Digambar Kamat, and Kedar Naik — are no longer with the party.
“It’s a shame how the BJP would stoop down to use money power and the lure of ministries,” Rao said.
Drawing a parallel to how the BJP engineered a similar split in the Shiva Sena in Maharashtra recently, the Goa in charge said the stakes were so high that some of their MLAs were being offered bribes to the tune of up to Rs 20 crore to defect.
Calling it BJP’s lost attempt to decimate the Congress, Rao further said the BJP will not stop until they see the end of the Congress, but they will also fight till the end.
“Their one-point agenda is to decimate the Congress. They won’t do this to AAP or any other opposition party. Their fight is with Congress and ensures it is finished. They want to ensure an Opposition-free country or Goa for that matter, but that will not be fulfilled as the Congress is still a strong party with a loyal cadre. In India, it would take another 20 years to build a strong opposition party and so the BJP is trying to find an opportunity to finish the opposition,” the leader further said.
“BJP’s Operation Kamala is now a failure. They tried but did not succeed,” Rao said. Just like in Maharashtra, the BJP had planned to split the party by two-thirds and increase their tally from 25 to 33, he explained.
“The BJP will be then 33 out of 40 in the assembly and they can become an opposition-free state,” he said.
He also pointed out that the BJP leaders who reached out to Congress MLAs not only spoke about monetary benefits but were also threatened with raids by the Enforcement Directorate and the IT department.
News18 had mentioned in its previous report that Rao had met Kamat at his residence on Saturday night where he had told him that he is “hurt” and that he is still a Congress MLA.
Rao reacted to this with counter questions. “What is he upset about? Wasn’t he the one who called our MLAs and claimed that the Congress was finished? Was it not the Congress that made him the CM and he later remained in the seat for a full five years? Even after his electoral loss, the Congress offered him the post of PCC president. He was the one who refused to say he wanted to take a back seat and now he claims he is hurt?” the leader said.
Attacking Kamat for being the man who led the “pledge of allegiance” of the Congress, the AICC official called him a complete “letdown”.
Accusing Kamat of being the mastermind behind the defections, Rao also said Mukul Wasnik, who had been rushed to Goa after deliberations, will take a call on the next step that the Congress needs to take in the wake of this new jolt.
The weekend saw a high-octane political drama with news doing the rounds that several Congress leaders including former chief minister Kamat will be joining the BJP. It all began when Rao called a meeting of the newly elected Congress MLAs before the Goa assembly session on Monday.
At first, only one legislator turned up at the South Goa hotel, but in a few hours, the others began trickling even when the rumour mills said eight Congress MLAs had jumped ship. By 5 pm on Sunday, the number rose from one to five with the absence of Kamat and Michael Lobo being quite conspicuous.
Rao addressed media in Goa after having confirmed the number that continue to support the Congress, which included Yuri Alemao, Antone DCosta, Rodolfo Fernandes, Sankalp Amonkar, and later joined by Rajesh Phaldesai. Lobo was stripped off his post as the Leader of the opposition as soon as the controversy broke out on Sunday.
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